Grove and Rufford Hunt filmed with its hounds on a live rail line

Police are investigating after a Nottinghamshire hunt was filmed with its hounds on a live rail line.

A member of the Grove and Rufford hunt was filmed with the dogs riding down the track at Westbrecks Crossing near Retford.

Network Rail said trespassing on a live section of line is illegal.

A spokesman for the hunt said they believed the line to be inactive but would assist police with any enquiries.

Sheffield Hunt Saboteurs posted the footage from Saturday on social media.

A spokesman for the group said: “We filmed the huntsman riding his horse down the railway line and encouraging the hounds to follow him and hunt the undergrowth on the side of the railway line.

“This kind of dense undergrowth provides an ideal daytime resting spot for a fox, which hounds are bred to chase through generations.”

Several people responded to the post by saying the line, which served Cottam Power Station, is no longer in use.

However Network Rail said it was still used by freight traffic and some passenger charter services “24/7”, and being on the line was “extremely dangerous”.

British Transport Police said they had received reports of the incident and inquiries were ongoing.

In a statement the hunt said: “To the best of the hunt’s knowledge, this line is inactive and has not been used since the final train used the line in September 2019 following the much-publicised closing of the Cottam Power Station.

“The hunt will, of course, assist British Transport Police with any enquiries regarding this matter.”